(Press-Register/Bill Starling)Rick Pineger, Captain of the Dauphin Island Volunteer Fire Department's Water Rescue Squad, walks on the remains of a road on the west end of Dauphin Island Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. Gustav came ashore in south Louisiana in 2008.

MOBILE, Alabama -- The Atlantic hurricane season next year should be another busy one, according to the forecasting group Weather Services International.

“It looks like all-systems-go right now as an active year,” said Crawford, who projects a high likelihood of a U.S. landfall.

WSI, based in Andover, Mass., predicts 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and five intense hurricanes of Category 3 or higher in the Atlantic basin in 2011, according to forecast information released Wednesday.

The hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

This year, 19 named storms formed in the Atlantic, tying for third-highest on record with 1887 and 1995, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Twelve of the storms became hurricanes and three grew to Category 3 or higher.

According to WSI’s predictions, the Gulf Coast will be under “significant threat” for hurricane landfall with the highest probabilities falling on the western Gulf states of Texas and Louisiana.

The La Nina weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean has reduced wind shear in the Atlantic, allowing storms to form more easily.

Crawford said the key question will be whether La Nina transitions into the El Nino weather phenomenon, which would have the opposite effect and hamper storm development. Current weather models indicate that’s unlikely to happen, he said.

Crawford acknowledged that it’s early for predictions, and he said his company will update its forecast in April.